A Valentine
For her this rhyme is penned, whose luminous eyes,
Brightly expressive as the twins of Leda,
Shall find her own sweet name, that nestling lies
Upon the page, enwrapped from every reader.
Search narrowly the lines!- they hold a treasure
Divine- a talisman- an amulet
That must be worn at heart. Search well the measure-
The words- the syllables! Do not forget
The trivialest point, or you may lose your labor
And yet there is in this no Gordian knot
Which one might not undo without a sabre,
If one could merely comprehend the plot.
Enwritten upon the leaf where now are peering
Eyes scintillating soul, there lie perdus
Three eloquent words oft uttered in the hearing
Of poets, by poets- as the name is a poet's, too,
Its letters, although naturally lying
Like the knight Pinto- Mendez Ferdinando-
Still form a synonym for Truth- Cease trying!
You will not read the riddle, though you do the best you can do.
Edgar Allan Poe
Chapter 4: Return to the Garden
"YES!" Felix's voice boomed as he ran down the hall towards Jane and me, "no more good behavior!"
Both Jane and I gave our murderous death glares because we were the only ones who had to have the 'good behavior.'
Felix took one look at our expressions and ran in the opposite direction as fast as he could making Jane and me snicker in amusement.
"Why did Felix look like he was running for his life?" Demetri asked coming down the hall Felix had just disappeared in.
"Maybe he saw a bat," Jane said in her sweet not so innocent voice, "they can be terrifying to big boys like him."
"I think it was a vampire bat." I remarked then heard Demetri's laugh echo through the hall as he walked after Felix to find out what really happen.
Jane chuckled and walked off in the direction of my room.
"So," Jane said once we were in my room sitting on my couch, "mind telling what caused you to lose your temper back there?"
I really didn't want to tell her about my daydream because I knew she would tease me for the rest of my existence, which would be a long time. Instead I decided to go with the perfect excuse.
"The smell of that mutt." I said faking a grimace.
She smiled at me knowing I was lying to her but decided not to press the matter further.
Before we could start another conversation there was a knock at my room door.
"Come in" Jane called out. The person who walked into my room was about my height. He had light brown hair, red eyes, and looked to be in his early twenties. I knew immediately who he was and growled lowly so he couldn't hear.
"Welcome home Santiago," Jane said hopping up and running over to kiss her mate. I just glared at the man I had to share Jane with.
"Glad to be back," he said giving her a small kiss on the lips. Then he looked at me with a smooth expression "hello Alec."
I just nodded at him wanting him out of my room.
Sensing my annoyance Jane came back over to me and gave me a good bye kiss on my cheek then whispered so only I could hear: "be nice brother." With a small hug she turned and made her way out of my room knowing her mate would follow.
Santiago tried to smile kindly at me, but ran out quickly closing my door behind him when I gave him my 'you're going to die' glare.
Now that I think about it I really should try to make an effort to be nicer to him. After all he makes Jane happy and is very good at protecting her.
If I'm honest with myself I know I'm jealous of him because now I'm not the only one protecting and caring for Jane. The only reason why I haven't torn him apart, burned him, and tossed his ashes into a bottomless pit is because he makes Jane happy. However; that's the only reason why. I still hate him.
The next day I noticed that heavy clouds were sitting over Volterra. Remembering that clouds were overhead the same day I met that the girl I quickly ran to the private garden hoping she would be there. I needed to find out who she was before I went mad with curiosity.
When I reached the gate I noticed that the guard John was standing in front of the gate once again. As soon as he saw my approach he quickly stepped aside allowing me to pass.
That's right I thought don't give me another reason to want to kill you
He was either too afraid of me to stop me again or Marcus gave him orders again to let me pass. I decided on the first option just to make me feel better.
The second I entered the garden I picked up on that same Cherry Blossom scent.
'Yes!' I thought becoming excited for a moment but quickly returning to my emotionless self and walked towards the center of the garden.
She was sitting in the same spot as last time in the same position. Only this time she was leaning forward resting one arm on knee with her head in her and as she looking at a flat table in front of her. I could see all the puzzle pieces laid out on the table. She was wearing the same style dress as last time too but this one was a dark red. Did she know that we are living in the 21st century now? That style has been out of fashion for years, but I liked it on her for some reason.
I approached her slowly giving her time to react to my approach, but just like last time she was so focused that she didn't notice me standing by her. Not being able to see her face because of her hair once again annoyed me.
I moved a little so my feet would be in her line of sight and after a few seconds she look up and locked her red eyes with mine.
Yup the world stopped spinning once again. Would I ever get used to her eyes?
"Hello Alec," she said a small smile gracing her lips, "would you like to help me?" She asked motioning with her free hand towards the puzzle.
Not trusting my voice at the moment I nodded 'yes' and sat down slowly putting my walls up just like last time. By the time I was seated she had already focused her attention back on the puzzle.
I stared at the puzzle before me trying to gather my thoughts and regain my voice.
Pathetic Alec my subconscious said you've taken thousands of lives but you can't talk to some girl? Who's the stupid fool now?
After a few minutes I decided to start helping with the puzzle. Looking at the box in the grass to see what it looked like I noticed it was a sky view of Paris.
Clearing my throat to gain her attention I asked: "have you ever been? To Paris I mean?"
She shook her head 'no' with a sad smile not taking her eyes off the piece she held in her hand; "I would like to go though."
That was the only words passed between us. We continued to work on the puzzle in silence and I would occasionally glance at her just to engrave her features in my memory.
When we finally completed the puzzle she stood up brushing grass off her dress. Then looked down at me and smiled kindly; "it was nice to see you again Alec."
She was about to run off in the direction of the castle but I remembered my intentions on coming here in the first place.
"Wait!" I called unnecessary loud getting to my feet to face her, "you never told me your name."
She looked deep in thought after I said that as if debating on whether or not to tell me. After a few seconds she smiled with amusement and looked at me.
"Edgar Allen Poe is one of my favorite poets. I especially love the titles of his poems. I believe that there is a book with all his poems in Marcus's library." Then she turned quickly on her heel and vanished towards the castle.
What the hell did that mean?! And why can't anyone in this damn castle just give straight answers for once?!
I've been in the library for over an hour now and still can't find that Edgar Allen Poe book she mentioned.
I growled at the bookshelf in front of me clearly losing patience. Then again me and patience never existed together in the first place.
"Something troubling you Alec?" a voice asked from behind me. I turned to see Master Aro looking at me with clear amusement written all over his face.
"I'm just trying to find the Edgar Allen Poe book." I said trying to calm down.
Aro tilted his head in confusing probably wondering why I of all people would want to read poetry. However; instead of asking he vanished only to return a few seconds later with an old book in his hands.
I thanked him and watched him leave with a book he came to get. Then I sat on one of the couches and started skimming through the poems. I wasn't interested in reading them I was just looking to see if there was something in here that could give me a hint to her name or who she was.
I was about to give up when I noticed something odd. One of the poems had its title blacked out. I couldn't even see what the poem was called. And throughout the poem I could tell that some words were blacked out too. Reading through the poem I instantly knew what the title was thanks to Jane's brief obsession with Edgar Allen Poe a few years ago.
It hit me then her name was the title of this poem…I finally knew her name and I loved it.
Author's note:
So what do you think so far? Please review they encourage me to update.
I love cliff hangers don't you? They keep things interesting despite how annoying they can be.
So next chapter I'm planning on doing Jane's POV and she's going to have an encounter with our mystery vampire as well.
Ok so I'd hate to be one of those people, but I would like a few more reviews before I post a new chapter...What are your thoughts so far on the story?